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Social Studies DisciplinesSOCIAL SCIENCES

Presented by; Amy Easterly, Jessica Iannone, and Jessica Stanek

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Social Sciences

Includes anthropology, sociology, and psychology.

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Key Vocabulary Terms

Normative Information: is at the center of social sciences and is used to shape public opinion and policy.

Normative Behavior: trends and statistical projections. When we

find something that exists outside of the norm we seek to know what

has caused the behavior, the patterns that exist, and if any

changes in the social system would reduce the likeliness of the

behavior in question.

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Psychology: the behaviors and experiences of people as individuals.

In the 1830’s Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology lab, William James

wrote the first general textbook pertaining to psychology.

Sociology: dates back to 580 BC with the tearchings of Confucius. It focuses on the

interactions of people with others and with their environments. They do this by using

surveys, interviews, field studies and direct observation to investigate the current

issues.

"Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous." – Confucius.

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Cultural anthropology:

Studies people and their environments,

but looks at the historical and contemporary populations.

(Preliterate and ancient artifacts).

Physical anthropology: has an origin in

archeology which uses artifacts and fossils to trace and

understand the history and culture of

humans.

Transpection: is when individuals look at their own culture from

the eyes of those outside their culture.

Brings about objectivity and introspection by

looking at the assumptions and

behaviors of others.

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Anthropology is the study of humans and

their cultures. Looks at how cultures adapt as well as their growth toward civilization.

Concern lies with the development of

languages, religions, art, physical and mental

traits.

An anthropologist studies the way people live and

interact within their diverse cultures.

They seek to know the physical

characteristics, customs, laws,

traditions, beliefs, and religions that

are present within a given group of

people. Anthropologists

achieve this through direct observation

through conducting field studies. Field

studies are prolonged stays

within the culture in question.

7Why Teach Anthropology ?

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Key Questions to Ask…1) Who were the people being studied?2) When did they live?3) Where did they live?4) What do artifacts tell us about them?5) What kinds of work did they do and

where did they do it?6) What did they produce or create?7) What did they do for recreation?8) What are their family patterns?9) How did they enculturate?10) How did they govern and control their

society?11) What customs and beliefs did theyhold?12) What events, individuals, or ideas are

they especially known for and how did these affect their lives?

13) What unique problems did they have14) How did they attempt to deal with these

problems?

Three Most Important?

Key questions:

1. Who were the people being studied?

2. When did they live?

3. Where did they live?

4. What do artifacts tell us about them?

5. What kinds of work did they do and

where did they do it?

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Topical Approaches

6. What did they produce or create?

7. What did they do for recreation?

8. What are their family patterns?

9. How did they enculturate?

10. How did they govern and control their society?

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Current Events:Helps students make a connection to the

material being taught because the topic is in the news and is important to

their lives.

Current events are always ongoing and subject to opinion and controversy.

Teachers have to be careful with how

they incorporate this material.

Ex: The Afghanistan war and where it is

located: geography,

violence in the streets.

Internet can be a valuable resource.Children’s

periodicals are good sources for

elementary children to use in

the classroom.

Local newspaper, recorded broad casts of local

television news: various learning

experiences.

Help children think about

problems in and out of school.

11. What customs and beliefs did they hold?

12. What events, individuals, or ideas are they especially known for and how did these affect their lives?

13. What unique problems did they have?

14. How did they attempt to deal with these problems?

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History of Thanksgiving

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What are the three most important questions you

would ask your students?

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Provides a wealth of well-developed ideas, strategies and resources that help a teacher meet state standards and student needs.

Elementary teachers focus on the Basic Skills, since they are the building blocks to learning.

Competes with science, music, physical education and art once reading, math and language arts have been taught.

Topical Approaches

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Some advocates say that social studies should include more geography rather than history and economics.

You can incorporate social studies in all other areas that need to be taught.

Continued:

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Helps students make a connection to the material being taught because the topic is in the news and is important to their lives.

Current events are always ongoing and subject to opinion and controversy. Teachers have to be careful with how they incorporate this material.

Ex: The Afghanistan war and where it is located: geography, violence in the streets.

Current Events

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Internet can be a valuable resource.

Children’s periodicals are good sources for elementary children to use in the classroom.

Help children think about problems in and out of school.

Various learning experiences:•Local newspaper • recorded broad casts of local television news

Continued

Career Education Intended to inform students about careers

and about the skills and education needed to prepare for them and to inspire students to pursue careers that they may perceive as being beyond their reach.

Ideally, all children should have all career choices available to them by the end of high school, when they will typically be mature enough to begin to narrow down their own career choices.

One reason we begin this so early is that students may be unknowingly opt out of the sequential courses that are crucial to keeping all their career options open.

Career Education Best Practices

Expose students to different career paths and the academic and personal attributes that the student will need to enter those careers.

Provide students with speakers about different professions so that they can pick a career that fits their personality best.

Require challenging tasks that lead to hard work so that students have more options.

Focus on essential social skills and Procedural Knowledge to place students in a position to attain careers.

Environmental Education A subset of global and geography

education that can easily be combined with science.

Concerned with the health of the land, air, and water around the globe.

Debate of Environmental Education has left people bewildered about air quality, global warming, and other issues.

The goal is to achieve a better environment.

Tradeoffs as well as markets, incentives, and disincentives are crucial concepts.

Law-Related Education Focuses on the American legal system, the

Constitution, and court cases. Should be examined through grade-

appropriate aspects of civil life. This is part of citizen education and

emphasis should be put on concepts like duty and responsibility.

Big Ideas that should be a part of law-related education:

Power 3) Liberty Justice 4) Equality http://www.homeworkspot.com/elementary/socialstud

ies/government.htm

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Works Cited

Hasten, Lauren. (2009) What is Anthropology? www.youtube.com

(2009)http://www.history.com/video.do?name=culture&bcpid=1676043212&bclid=1672079702&bctid=1586348651

McKeever, Carolyn. (2009) Course packet. (2009)http://www.homeworkspot.com/elementary/

socialstudies/government.htm (Fun for kids grade level …)

Duplass, James A. (2008) Teaching Elementary Social Studies. Houghton Mifflin Company.